The answer to the fill in the blank is Saddam Hussain.
In august 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain seized control of Kuwait.
The pretext for the invasion was Saddam's insistence that many rich oil fields in Kuwait were actually part of Iraq.
This culminated in the First Gulf War, in which the United States lead a coalition government to invade Kuwait and push back Iraqi forces.
Within a matter of days, the Iraqi Army had completely withdrawn.
